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Tuesday, August 23, 2016

Where do you live?Not your street address, apartment number, city or state.Not physically.But . . .Mentally, emotionally, spiritually.Where do you live?

Some people live in the past,

some people live in the future.

I'm not one to camp out in the past, but I do find myself riding on wings as I fly towards the future, waiting to land. There's only one problem, it's never time to land.When I live in the mindset of:

what if . . .

when this or that happens . . .

I can't wait until . . .

I just wish . . .

When, when, when . . .

I'm not living in the moment.

And guess what? That's exactly what the enemy wants me to do.

Why?

Because when I don't live in the moment, I live a life of discontent.

Paul wrote in Phil. 4:11 that " . . . I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content:"

I, like so many, have hung my dreams on the scripture found in Jer. 29:11 that says, "For I know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope."

Yes, God has plans for us . . . a future and a hope, but He has also given us everything we need to be content each day. Our hope is found in His Son, Jesus Christ. For He tells us, "I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you," (Heb. 13:5). He is with us in the moment helping us live out our purpose as we navigate what is before us, as mundane as it may seem.We should be content while living each day to the fullest instead of dragging our feet in the dust of days gone by or trying to find rainbows to slide down into the future. The future will come and with it all the plans God has for us, but it will be in His timing not ours.

I'm
sure at one time or another we have all screamed these words while in the
middle of a desperate situation. This is life, we are in the middle of it, and
things happen. Some things we create and some things are out of our control,
but either way we find ourselves stuck in the middle.

As
they followed Moses out of Egypt, the Israelites also found themselves in a
desperate situation. With the waters of the Red Sea before them and Pharaoh's
armies fast approaching behind them, they were stuck with no options in sight.

Have
you been there? Stuck with no options in sight? I have. Maybe the choice before
me wasn't to drown in a sea or be killed by an army who was pursuing me in fast
chariots, but nevertheless I have felt stuck with nowhere to turn.

God
saw what was happening to His children and He had a plan.

First
Moses told the people "Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord . .
. the Lord will fight for you" (Ex. 14:13, 14 NASB).

And
He did!

God
told the people to stop crying out to him and move towards the waters. At that
point God performed a miracle. As Moses lifted up his rod, God caused the sea
to go back with a strong east wind dividing the sea. Throughout the night the
people were able to walk to the other side on dry land.

And
what about the army that was chasing them? That morning God looked down on the
army and caused their wheels to fall off their chariots and when they tried to
turn back He caused the sea to return to its full depth drowning all the men.

Yes,
the Lord fought for them.

And
He will do the same for us.

He
sees what is happening to us, His children, and He has a plan.

But
we need to learn to, "Be still and know that (He is) God," (Psa.
46:10). He wants to fight for us but we need to let Him.

What
are you in the middle of today? What situation seems impossible? What's closing
in on you from both sides?

Monday, January 18, 2016

I'm not the kind of girl that can "kick back" and just let things take care of themselves.

Oh no . . . I'm more like the toddler who won't let you help them and looks up at you and says with defiance, "No! Me do it!"

For some reason, even as an adult, I want to look at those who are trying to help me and say, "No! Me do it!"

It's not that I think my way is always the right way, or that I can do it better, it's just that for some reason I feel as though I NEED to do it.

Ok, maybe sometimes I do think I can do it better.

It's just something that drives me.

But if I stay on this track too long, I become weary, discouraged, and unproductive. Thank goodness I have family and friends around me that understand me and will call me out if need be. I have a close relationship with them and because of this they can often see before I can that I'm over-doing it and bring it to my attention.

And they do.

But they aren't the only ones.

As a Christ-follower I have spent years developing a close relationship with Jesus Christ and through Him, a close relationship with my heavenly Father. When I accepted Jesus as my Savior, I received the Holy Spirit who teaches me, "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit . . . He will teach you all things," (John 14:26 NASB).